I’ll admit it; I have a not so passive dislike for smoking in general and perhaps it taints my view of the person behind the smoke.
“NEW YORK (AFP) – Five years after New York became one of the first major world cities to ban smoking in public places, nearly a quarter of a million people have kicked the habit and tobacco-related deaths have dropped significantly.
The feared economic impact on bars and restaurants failed to materialize and cities from London to Hong Kong have since followed suit, leaving die-hard smokers feeling more marginalized than ever before.”
*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080329/…
I think this (update – as in the “New York City experience with its Smoking Ban” being applied elsewhere, not said article on the issue) is a solid enough case study that smoking should perhaps be banned across the country in such a manner. (update – As Jon points out the 90% statistic has validity issues, and from the data I posted in my response it may even be inaccurately reported…, regardless I’ll let my argument stand on its own merits as well as the actual survey data as in the response I posted.)
(Rant on…)
But of course, a news article like this isn’t replete without the other side offering up their brilliant defense: (have to click for more to see this :P)
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